Big Ben, the Pens, and some eye candy for the ladies

Ben Roethlisberger had a meeting with head coach Mike Tomlin today and after he emerged he promised to play better from here on out. That's really great, except his shoulder seems to be back to square one again after he was hurt by a Mario Williams hit in week one. He also has a brace on his left thumb because a ligament was torn in it during the game against the Giants. He says it feels better but he probably has to wear it for eight weeks to keep his thumb from bending all the way back. He says that he wants to play Sunday and does not want to take a week off because he doesn't think it will help since it didn't heal during the bye week. Mike Tomlin says he's checking his progress day to day and will allow Big Ben to play without practicing like before the Jags game.

Willie Parker has a new injury, and it's not to his knee, but his shoulder. Tomlin says he should be fine and hopes he can practice tomorrow as he didn't today. Heath Miller doesn't appear to be playing this week and will be replaced in the lineup by Matt Spaeth who has been wearing a soft cast to protect and injured right hand/wrist. He says he'll be find and won't wear anything that will restrict him during the game and also says it's precautionary. Other players who didn't practice because of injury are Casey Hampton (toe), Marvel Smith (back), LaMarr Woodley (calf), Najeh Davenport (hamstring), Tyron Carter (ankle), and Bryant McFadden (forearm).

Byron Leftwich is also really tired after not getting much sleep the past two nights. Between the game in Washington and staying up to watch Barack Obama's victory speech and calling friends and family, he's beat.

Romeo Crennel had some kind words for his new starting quarterback who will face the Broncos Thursday night. "Knock wood, I hope the guy doesn't fall on his face." I'm sure Quinn was more than appreciative of the kind words. Is it just us or does it seem like Crennel doesn't want to do this? Could it really be any worse? We doubt it.

Also in NFL news, the Raiders cut ties with DeAngelo Hall after just eight games in Oakland. He had signed a seven-year, $70 million contract and they sent a second-round draft pick in 2008 and a fifth-round pick next season to Atlanta in March to get him. Are the Raiders completely nuts? Do they even know what they're doing? We doubt it on this one too.

The Pens will play the Oilers at home tonight at 7:00. It's a half hour earlier than normal to accommodate Canadian TV. Pascal Dupuis is going to play tonight even though he's not 100 percent yet. He won't say why he hasn't played but says it's something he can obviously play with. He was on a left wing with Geno and Sykora yesterday and says changing linemates won't impact how he goes about his work. He said the only difference is Malkin likes to shoot a little more and that they're both unbelievable players. Ruslan Fedotenko will probably not play tonight.

Satan and Crosby are figured to be together again on a line tonight with Max Talbot on the left wing. They're hoping that they have meshed their skills and will create more scoring this time around.

Seth over at Empty Netters has pictures of the new uniforms that were unveiled yesterday at the Mall in Robinson. They're basically just like the ones they wore in the Winter classic. You can check out the pictures here.

And last but not least, a fan of the Pens sent PittGirl and her blog "The Burgh Blog" some pictures of the Pens' soccer game the other day. What's so special about that you ask? Well, if your of the female variety or like shirtless guys, you're in luck. The guys played shirts vs. skins so unfortunately we do not get to see Sidney Crosby sans shirt as he played on the shirts side, but there's still plenty of skin. Go here to check out Marc-Andre Fleury, Hal Gill and others without their shirts. Enjoy ladies!

Lastly, for real this time, we just saw that FSN is going to air Penguins Instant Classic games from 2008 all day Thanksgiving Day. At 11:00 am and 5:30 pm you can watch the Winter Classic from New Years Day last year, and at 2:00 pm and 8:30 pm you can watch the Triple Overtime Cup Final Game 5. Be sure to check out Penguins Report and other good info on the Pens' site while you're there.